How to Pass A Coding Interview

The question I most frequently get from developers is how to pass a coding interview. What follows is what I think will be sufficient for a person to be well prepared.

1. Master a programming language#

If you’re new to coding, make sure you have a solid grip on at least one language. You don’t want this to become a barrier in your interview. If you’re still figuring out where to start, I put together a list of my top resources for learning how to code that might help.

2. Learn algorithms, data structures and complexity analysis#

Read the book “Cracking the Coding Interview”. Do the exercises, learn the common algorithms, and how to calculate complexity.

3. Solve problems#

Solve different kinds of medium, easy and hard problems on leetcode.com. Your target should be enough practice to be able to solve any problem in 30 minutes. If you get stuck, read the discussion for the problem, learn the solution, and code it yourself.

4. Do mock interviews#

If you think you’re ready, do at least 30-40 mock interviews on pramp.com. This helps you learn from others how they solve problems and experience a live interview situation.

5. Final test#

If you’re able to clear most interviews on pramp, finally go to interviewing.io and clear at least 3 interviews.

Congratulations!#

Now you should be in good shape but do realize after all this you’re not guaranteed success. We get whatever God is destined for us, our job is only to make an effort to seek it. There are competent engineers who are great at leetcode but still don’t clear the interview. We control only one variable in the equation.